[ cheers and applause ] this is "nightline." >> tonight, sexting scandal. at least 100 students, some still in middle school, under investigation for swapping explicit content. using so-called ghost apps to hide them in their phone. they say it's common, but some of them could now be facing serious consequences. her characters have all kinds of secrets. but for tv queen shonda rhimes the biggest secret was her own. tonight she takes us inside her world. how a year of saying yes changed everything. and the newest angels have landed. >> join us.

>> really? >> supermodels gigi hadid and kendall jenner spreading their wings for the first time as new video shows what really goes into the making of the victoria's secret fashion show. but first the "nightline 5." >> what's your dog food's first ingredient? corn, wheat? in new purina 1 instinct grain free, real chicken is number one. no corn, wheat or soy. support your active dog's whole body health with purchase reena 1. >> do you suffer constipation or irregularity? trust dull ka lax for dependable relief. comfort coated for gentle overnight relief.

dependable relief. on average, women need to work an extra two hours each day, to earn the same paycheck as their male coworkers. join the fight for equal pay. join the fight for sara and women everywhere. i'm hillary clinton,

good evening. we begin tonight with a story involving nudity, technology, and adolescence. a small town in colorado finds itself in the white hot glare of the national media spotlight because of a so-called sexting scandal. scores of students, some of them only in middle school, suspected of trading naked pictures on their phones using secret apps designed to hide it from their parents and teachers. here's abc's david wright. >> anybody want to talk about what's going on in school? >> reporter: at canyon high school in careful, a shameful silence. >> it's none of your business. >> reporter: about a sexting scandal officials say implicates at least 100 students. >> it's not what we want our chas to be known for. >> reporter: an anonymous tip last week exposed a secret activity. teens swapping nude photos of each other like baseball cards. up to 400 of them. >> there's information out there about this has been going on a long time. >> reporter: we're talking high school students all the way down

now several students are facing suspension, including so many high school football players the school's team had to forfeit the final game of the season. the incident has shaken this small town. >> i was shocked, hurt. i don't know what the right word is for it. >> reporter: the teens here say sexting is so common, few of them are surprised. even those who say they weren't personally involved. >> we're young, stupid, we're going to do things like that. >> this is the digital version of, you show me yours, i show you mine? >> yeah, back when we had spin the bottle we weren't live streaming it and putting it on the web. kids have to understand if you're passing this stuff around, you could be indicted for a crime. >> reporter: a reckless moment can have serious consequences, including in this case, legal ramifications. according to one recent study, most teenagers are unaware that sending nude pictures could land them criminal charges. for trafficking in child pornography.

so if these prosecutors wanted to, they could charge almost every kid here with a felony. >> reporter: which could mean jail time and ending up on the sex offender database for life. it's a real possibility for some of those colorado students. the sexting scandal at canon city high is not an isolated case. in the last six months there have been a dozen sexting investigations, a growing problem in high schools and middle school. there's no federal sexting law but it is on the books in 20 penalties. in new jersey, the prosecutor's office charged 20 male students -- >> reporter: male students shared nude photos of female and social media. in ohio -- >> ten kids are in serious trouble. photo-sharing ring. years old. just today in new york -- >> we begin with that sexting scandal -- >> reporter: another sexting

scandal involving dozens of students. >> two male 14-year-old students filmed a sexual encounter. that video made the rounds. >> reporter: the school disciplined the teens for allegedly sharing or just viewing a video of a fellow student engaged in a sex act. the father of one of the suspended students was outraged. >> it's impossible to believe that your son could get in trouble because somebody forwarded a video to his phone. that he has no control over receiving it. >> reporter: in north carolina, prosecutors can charge a minor for sharing nude photos of him or herself. koeppening, a star high school quarterback, pled guilty to sexually exploiting a minor -- himself. police found naked photos of him at age 16 on his own cell phone while investigating unrelated claims. he had sent the photos to his girlfriend and was charged with making and possessing child pornography. perpetrator and victim of the

he took a plea deal in order to avoid having to register as a sex offender. >> scary. my life could have been thrown down the drain over some pictures. >> if this is literally teens sharing nude photos with other teens and no one was coerced, all voluntary, it would be nuts to charge them with a crime in connection with that in this case. so these laws are pretty outdated. >> reporter: what can parents do while we wait for the law to catch up to the technology? >> kids will always be savvyi than mom and dad, always one step ahead of us. that's the nature of the game. >> reporter: blogger lit showed me how easy it is to hide those incriminating photos. there's an app for that. in fact, several of them. >> this is a ghost app. >> reporter: authorities say some of the teenagers in colorado used apps suffas these disguised to look like calculators or clocks. >> congratulations on downloading the best private photo app. >> reporter: photo vault gives

password to fool unsuspecting parents, presumably. >> you can set a fake password to access a more safe part of your photo library. >> the g-rated pictures? >> exactly, should you have r or x-rated ones somewhere else. >> reporter: calculator plus looks innocent. >> when you open it up and type in my password and hit the percentage sign you realize it's a hidden photo album. >> wow. >> reporter: of course, parents could always take away the smartphone. just in case. sending photos is as easy as point and click. kids swap the files in techs or with apps such as snapchat, kick, yikyak, whis per, which makes sharing large some numbers of smiles easy. >> you give them the flip phone? >> take out your motorola from 1994, give them the brick. >> reporter: even that's no guarantee the kids won't get themselves into trouble. >> just because your kids don't have those apps doesn't mean they don't have a secret stash

conversations with your kids are going to be a lot more effective in the long run than spy maneuvers on their iphones. >> reporter: a lot of those parents in canon city must be wishing they'd had the conversation, sparing their kids the hurt and humiliation of being victims or the pain of being busted. i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. up next, she's not afraid of the dark side on shows like "scandal" and "how to get away with murder." but shonda rhimes says she spent years hiding her own crippling secret. tonight she's going public. plus, competition, emotion, and additions. a behind the scenes look at the making of the victoria's secret

i tried depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. only depend underwear has new confidence core technology for fast absorption and the smooth, comfortable fit of fit-flex protection. get a coupon at depend.com welcome to the most social car we've ever designed. the 2015 nissan murano. recipient of autopacific's best-in-class vehicle satisfaction award. now get great deals

the best of everything is even better during red lobster's ultimate seafood celebration where new seafood combinations like the new grand seafood feast are stepped up, spiffed up, jazzed up... yeah, this stuffed lobster tail, handcrafted brown butter scampi, and jumbo hand-battered shrimp are that good. or try the new ultimate wood-grilled feast. that bourbon brown sugar glaze gets ya preeetty fired up. with new dishes like these, why wait to celebrate? but just like this time of year, this is too good to last. so hurry in. ya know, viagra helps guys with erectile dysfunction get and keep an erection. talk to your doctor about viagra. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing.

ask your doctor about viagra. if you think there's no solution to the climate crisis, think again. in america, clean energy is already producing enough power for 18 million homes, reducing our dependence on foreign oil and supporting over one million jobs. i'm tom steyer. with bold leadership and an endless supply of wind and sun, we can do even more. the goal is 50% clean energy by 2030.

she really is the undisputed queen of primetime tv. shonda rhimes, the strong leading lady behind the strong leading ladies on "scandal" and

behind the scenes rhimes has wrestled with serious vulnerabilities. she opened up to my night lang coanchor juju chang. >> when you walk onto the set you must be giddy. >> it's exciting. this is magical to me. >> reporter: getting an intimate tour of the oval office. well, a hollywood mockup. you may not recognize our guide but chances are you've been inside shonda rhimes' racy daydreams. >> this cannot happen, not anymore. >> there's been hanky panky in here. >> a lot of interesting hanky panky on that desk. >> stop. >> no. no. >> it's crazy what your imagination can build. >> reporter: shonda's imagination turned reality reaches 20 million a week with her thursday night abc trifecta, "grey's anatomy," "scandal," "how to get away with murder." her world, shonda land.

>> shonda land, it's a real place. >> employs 750 people, that's a lot of people, boss lady. >> it is a lot of people. >> reporter: over the last ten years, she's created bold female characters. that dominate in typically male-driven industries, much like shonda herself. one big difference, shonda was painfully uncomfortable in the spotlight. >> i'm a writer, i'm supposed to be behind the scenes, everybody else is in front of the stuff. >> reporter: now the famously private woman talking about her epic struggles with anxiety and fear of public speaking. >> what fit i don't logically happens when you're having that stage 4 panic attack? >> there's a little bit of panicked breathing, a lot of myself. >> reporter: despite being invited to every glamorous party in hollywood she'd make excuses saying she was too busy. until one day her sister provoked her. >> i was sort of going on and on invitations i'd received. my sister finally cut in and said, are you going to say yes

i remember being very taken i can't. and her sort of looking at me like, that's insane. at some point just saying, you never say yes to anything. and those words really sticking with me. because she was right. >> so this became a campaign to say yes to the things that scared you. that freaked me out. >> reporter: for a year she'd take on all those things she work sod hard to avoid. and she reveals in her new book "year of yes," it began with an invitation to appear on jimmy kimmel, whom she'd turned down so many times before. >> i tip my white hat to you. >> welcome to opa. >> reporter: followed by a graduation speech at dartmouth. her alma mater. >> dream dozen not come true just because you dream them. it's hard work that makes things happen. change. >> when you started saying yes, what started to happen? >> it's the doing of the thing that undoes the fear. >> reporter: it was more than public appearances shonda would

>> let's talk about the f-word. you call yourself fat. >> i did. i got on an airplane to go to new york. and i tried to buckle the airplane seat belt and it would not buckle. you can call the stewardess and say, hey, this doesn't fit, can i have a seat belt extender? or you can maybe die by not using a seat belt. i decided i was going to die. there was no way i was going to say out loud, my seat belt won't buckle. changing. >> i hit this point where i realized, i work really hard in every other area of my life, why wouldn't i throw myself into being healthy and losing weight in the same way? 137 pounds. >> what do you say to people, what's your quick weight loss secret? >> it's hilarious everyone kept saying what diet, did you have surgery? there's nothing except finally deciding it has to happen. >> reporter: as her year of yes progressed she was feeling comfortable in her own skin.

struggled more to find time to spend with her kids. as a working single mom she's unapologetic about setting a strong example for her three quarters daughters. >> bad-asserry. that to me is a huge concept. is that what you want for your daughters? >> shull. i want them to grow up to be strong, to be bad-asses, to run the world. >> reporter: she's frank about motherhood and the dirty little secret working mothers are often too afraid to talk about. that you really can't have it all. >> i was literally at my daughter's first debut in her little school musical and i missed sandra oh's last night filming ever at "grey's anatomy." it was not a question for me where i was going to be but that was a really important moment at work. missed it. >> reporter: a big deal in part shonda shonda's uber heave competitive alter ego come to life. >> you are blowing my concentration, get out of my o.r.!

our sense of work ethic and very similar. >> don't hit what he wants eclipse what you need. he's very draining. but he's not the sun. you are. >> reporter: when christina left grey sloan memorial hospital and her love tore pursue her career, it was a major statement. >> yet one of the other things you talk about in the book is the fact that she doesn't want to get married. >> no. she doesn't. >> you subliminally kind of wrote that into her storyline using your own life as a reference point? >> i did, yeah. i definitely discovered that i at least for now. >> do you feel like it's important for women especially ending? >> i don't know that i think fairy tale ending. i just think they have to decide what their fairy tale ending is. and not go with the standard one that everyone's told them they're supposed to have. >> reporter: though shonda's own

hollywood studio lot, her kingdom was born in her mother's kitchen. >> i spent most of my time playing in the kitchen pantry with the cans. the cans of tomato paste, peas, corn. >> you be meredith -- >> we were a little kingdom. i remember making an exciting kingdom for me and i told stories. >> did you have mcdreamy peas? >> i did not. >> reporter: it's a more prouded pantry now. >> behind this door is all of my "grey's" writers. >> the grain trust. >> we have a lot of doctor writers. joann, fred. >> is it true that she wants to operate on anyone who will allow her? crack open somebody's chest cavity? >> yeah, and if any of us are pregnant she's like, please give birth in the room so we can all see! >> reporter: just down the hall, another group of talented writers. >> these are the "scandal" people. >> we have democrats, republicans, all mixed in. nobody wants to say.

>> reporter: at the end of her year of yes, perhaps most unexpected result is a deeper understanding of her own bad-asserry. >> there's some weird world in which anybody gives you a compliment your response is, it's not that big of a deal. >> even you, shonda rhimes, creator of all this fabulousness, was like, oh, no, i was lucky. >> it makes you feel arrogant to somehow acknowledge that you've had some part in it. which is ridiculous. own who you are and what you've done. be proud of it. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm juju chang in los angeles. >> we should say shonda rhimes' new book "year of yes" will be on sale tomorrow. up next here, real-life angels reveal intimate details about the making of the victoria's secret fashion show. what it takes to earn those

ok, we're here. here's dad. mom. the twins. aunt alice... alice was coming. of course. don't forget grandpa. can the test drive be over now? maybe just head back to the dealership? don't you want to meet my family? yep, totally. it's practically yours, but we still need your signature. the sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta and other select

when victoria's secret models glide down the runway wearing angels' wings it looks so effortless. but a new video out tonight tells a very different story. here's abc's linzie janis. >> reporter: long legs. killer style. that million-dollar smile. these are the things victoria's secret angels are made of. but it's not all glitz and glamor. the lingerie company released a new behind the scenes video showing what goes into snagging a spot on one of fashion's most coveted runways.

long is to work as hard as i can. so i can deserve to be here. >> reporter: hundreds of models come to audition from all over the world. >> tanzania. >> india. >> holland. >> reporter: only 47 make the final cut. >> hi, gigi. >> reporter: one of the lucky few, gigi hadid. the video shows the moment she was selected. >> what are you doing on november 9th and 10th? >> i don't know! >> why don't you come join sinus. >> really! >> reporter: she'll break in her first set of wings with supermodel pal kendall jenner tomorrow. alongside returning stars like adriana lima, candace swanapole, lily aldridge, who will be modeling the $2 million firework fantasy bra. ellie goulding will also light up the stage with the man behind the hit "can't feel my face" the weekend. the show airs next month.

janis in new york. >> our thanks to linzie, thanks for watching abc news tonight. tune into gma first thing in the morning. as always we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page and abcnews.com. tom: now at 11:00, hillary registering for the new hampshire riemer he. the group she' s defending from